Two Paths, One Choice
by Songwind
Summary: Ever since the creation of the Bishie world, one question has been present in everyone's minds; where do the half-Bishies fit in? And, in an attempt to figure this out, the world's main Programmer screws up royally, causing even more trouble.
1. Default Chapter

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Two Paths, One Choice

By: Songwind

Disclaimer- The only characters that I own in this are the original trainers I put in. Bishonen and their female counterparts, Bishoujo, belong to their respective creators.

Author's Notes- Hallo! I'm back!

(Watches as everyone ignores her and prances about in their own Bishie fics)

….

This is a sequel to "Bishonen and Bishoujo", and takes place about two years after said story. Hopefully it will be enjoyed as much as the first one was. Um, a heads up to anyone interested- any notes I'll want to make after this chapter will be made at the END. Some technologies and the world itself are slightly updated, but it won't be too big of a difference. I hope you all like this. Well, that's all I had to say. On with the story!

Chapter One- A Weird Link

Naomi was sneaking online. Again.

Looking at the door to her bedroom rather guiltily, the young woman quickly clicked on the Internet icon and waited for the home screen to appear, nervously glancing around.

The clock above her PC stated that it was around half past ten, and the darkness outside her solitary window declared that it was nighttime. A fan quietly whirred away in the far corner of her room, gently blowing at a few loose papers that lay strewn about her desk.

Finally, the Internet browser screen appeared. Quickly, Naomi typed in her email address and password, and hit the ENTER button.

__

I really shouldn't be doing this, her conscience protested.

__

I really need to do this! retorted the rest of her mind. _If I don't email that project to my science teacher and he doesn't get it in his email tomorrow, then I can kiss any semblance of a good grade in that class goodbye!_

She firmly shoved away her conscience- which was now loudly complaining that she should have just gotten it done on time in the first place- and smiled in relief as her login screen appeared.

"Finally," she whispered. "Let's see…"

Her eyes automatically found the blue, highlighted letters in the center of the screen that said how many new messages she'd had since she last got online. It said that she had one new message.

She started to reach to click on the link, then shook her head. "Damn it, not yet," she told herself firmly. "Later."

With that, she hit the COMPOSE button, typed up some excuses for the report being so late, and added said report in as an attachment. During all of this, the fourteen-year-old girl paused to listen, seeing if anyone was being disturbed by her constant clicking noises.

Apparently, no one heard her; the report was sent without a hitch, and she leaned back in her swivel chair with a sigh of relief, smiling slightly.

"Ha. Finally, I'll never have to think about that thing again," she muttered, stretching her arms over her head. Then she reached out to click on the blue, highlighted text. "Now to see this message…" Once again, she ignored her conscience, which was now telling her to shut off the computer and get to sleep- she had a test tomorrow- and looked at the email. "Okay now…"

She frowned. "Huh? That's weird."

The new message didn't have an email address listed next to it, or even a name. The subject title was not really helpful, either; it was blank.

"What the…" Naomi reached for the DELETE button. _I have no desire to explain to my parents why I got a virus when I've supposedly been off the damn thing for the past month._

However, just as she hit the DELETE button, a pop-up screen appeared in front of her browser.

__

"You don't want to do that," the message informed her in flashing letters.

"What on earth?" She moved to close the pop-up, only to be confronted by another one. _"This link is worth at least looking at. _No way." She closed that one, too. To her consternation, another pop-up appeared. _"At least look at it! _How about no?! This is really freaky…"

Naomi closed the third pop-up, frowning as she tried to figure out why the pop-ups seemed to have to do with whatever was in the blank email. _If this isn't a virus, I don't know what is. Maybe I'd better just shut it down manually, and check this out tomorrow night. Or just get another email address. It's certainly not the first time!_

Before she could act on her decision, though, her Media Player suddenly appeared, looking as though it was readying to play a movie for her. _Oh, no. _She quickly muted the sound on her system, then moved to shut down the computer.

The Media Player caught her eye.

An SD character was watching her.

Naomi was a semi-otaku; that is, she liked anime enough to know what SD meant and what it was. She also played a number of video games that had anime-like graphics. She had at least one bookshelf filled with manga and DVDs. Indeed, the young woman knew almost as much about anime as a fully-fledged otaku would.

What she didn't know was what an SD anime character was doing in a movie on her Media Player, at ten at night.

The SD character immediately sought to remedy that fact.

A bubble appeared over the SD, as a sweat-drop formed on its head. _"This is really frustrating, you know," _the bubble read. _"The link's not all that bad; just take a look, will you? You'll feel horrible if you don't…"_

Naomi stared at the SD, then at her Internet browser. She sighed. "If this is a virus, it's a really good one. Fine, why not? Let's tempt fate and invite a virus into my life. It's just what I need."

The SD character suddenly seemed all smiles, as though it had heard her statement. Then it waved, and the Media Player disappeared.

Naomi blinked. Then she moved the mouse and entered into the email.

All there was to it was a link.

She glanced at it, then at the clock, which was now reading ten forty-five p.m. _Well, I'm screwed for that test anyway. I might as well see what all that fuss was about, _she thought, and clicked on it.

Naomi didn't have too long to wait; almost immediately, the screen loaded.

Once again, the fourteen-year-old blinked. _All that fuss about an anime website? Granted, it looks interesting, but…_

Well, that wasn't exactly an accurate description of the site. Indeed, anime characters seemed somehow involved; they lined the margins of the screen, mostly in SD form. The top of the screen showed what looked to be a giant Poke-ball (_The hell is this? Pokemon? _she wondered) that seemed to project multiple images of shadowy, slim figures. A girl leaned against one side of the giant silver and black ball, and a guy did the same on the opposite side. Both wore odd black belts around their waists, and held what looked to be cell phones in one hand.

"Welcome to the world of Bishies," she read underneath the image. "Here is a place where you can interact with the people that you've always dreamed of meeting. Bishies include characters from anime, manga, books, video games, or even movies. You can gain a permit with your Bishies to enter fighting or other such contests, or you can hang out with them. Or, if you're not that interested in Bishies but have always wanted an odd pet to raise, you can try out our Chocobo and Grunty stalls. Or you can raise anything and everything you please! The choice is yours.

"The link below will lead you to this world. Good luck on your journeys!"

Naomi scrolled down, and sure enough, there was a link. Another SD was hopping up and down on the screen, pointing enthusiastically at the button.

__

Huh, she thought. _I guess this is some sort of RPG thing. A good idea, really, but… oh, what the hell. I can sign up tonight and come back to check things out again tomorrow night, if I get a chance._

She clicked on the link.

At first, nothing happened. Naomi wondered if perhaps her computer was malfunctioning, but she found that she could move her mouse and even click on a few icons on her screen.

Then, the screen began to fade, slowly, the bright colors of the site began to meld together into a confusing mix that seemed to catch hold of all of her senses, even as footsteps began to sound outside her bedroom door. The colors created bizarre rainbows and mysterious twilight, swirling on and on. Naomi felt as though she were being gently sucked into something, felt as though she were drifting…

Naomi's mother opened the door an instant later to see the computer off, and the room dark. Her suspicious frown melted into an expression of serene sleepiness, and she quietly closed the door to return to bed.

She didn't even notice that the room was empty.

Nori swore loudly as he made his way through the soaked forest that hid his home.

"Someone friggin' _falls _on me, a fangirl tries to _capture _me, and it's friggin' _raining._ What on earth did I do to deserve this?!"

At this outburst, the sky seemed to open up further, providing him with a fresh downpour.

A vein throbbed dangerously on the youth's forehead as he attempted to brush his fiery locks out of his face for the umpteenth time that day. "I'm not showering for a week," he swore. "Not that I'll need to- with any luck-" this he said sarcastically "- it'll be raining the whole week!"

Thunder boomed in the distance.

"Damn it. If one more thing happens to me while I'm out here-"

At that point, one more thing _did _decide to happen him. In the form of a confused young woman, who appeared, unconscious, five feet above him, then promptly landed on his back, smushing the young man's face into a pile of fresh mud.

If he hadn't been busy getting acquainted with said mud, he probably would have exploded at that point.

Instead, he spent a moment muttering obscenities into the ground before pushing himself upright and wiping the dirt and water off of his face. Then he turned around to see who had fallen on him.

His eyes widened, then narrowed, his lips forming a tight line as he stared at the young woman.

"_Another_ one. Why the frig' does this have to happen to me!?"


	2. Chapter Two

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Two- Meeting Up

Naomi blinked as she slowly came to, wondering where on earth she could be. Her first impression was that she'd somehow fallen asleep in the shower, but that didn't seem quite right- the floor was too… mushy… underneath. Was this a dream, then? No, she was far too wet to be dreaming.

__

Where am I?

She sat up, realizing that she was lying in the middle of a small deer trail in the middle of what looked to be a forest, during a rainstorm. The downpour had apparently been going on for some time, since she was soaked and the ground seemed to make a squelching noise every time she moved.

As she came to herself, she found that a young man was glaring at her accusingly, as though the whole situation was somehow her fault. He, too, was soaked, and covered in mud. Though…

__

There's something odd about him. He looks so familiar…

The young man had fiery red hair and narrow green eyes. He wore an earring in both ears, and wore the remains of what probably was a nice set of shirt and khakis. He wore what looked like leather boots that came almost halfway up his calves.

"Are you done yet?" he muttered.

She blinked. "I'm sorry. Um…" Her eyes widened as a thought occurred to her. "You! You're kidnapping me!" she exclaimed, pointing at him.

Now the young man looked confused, pointing at himself for a moment before he realized that she meant it. "What? Me? Hey, lady, you fell on top ofI me, /Iokay? Don't give me this friggin' crap about me kidnapping you!"

"I fell… what the hell are you…?"

He rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up into the air. "I give up. Not only is she a future trainer, she's a stupid one. Well, good riddance. Maybe a wild beast will come and kill her for me." With that, he turned and began to stomp off through the woods, squelching each time he moved.

"Huh… uh… hey! Wait!" she called after him, struggling to her feet. It was odd, how hard it was for one to get up when one was covered in so much water and mud. "Where am I?"

The only response she got was a disgusted look before he continued on his way.

Frowning, she began to wring some of the water out of her hair while brushing the mud off of her front. _If he thinks I'm giving up that easily, he's got another thing coming! I want to know where I know him from!_

With that, the two began to squelch their way through the woods, neither speaking, both for their own reasons.

"It's raining. Again."

This observant statement came from the mouth of a small cave where wild beasts had once lived during the cold season of the region. Now, it was inhabited again, but by completely different species.

"Yes, Missie, we noticed," came a dry comment from behind the first person.

"Shut up, Sano."

Anya glared at the rain for a few more minutes, then sighed in disgust and turned to flop down on her bedroll, which hadn't moved in three days.

Four sets of eyes watched her, then three returned to their own interests while Sano continued to watch her. One sat with a small lamp perched on his shoulder, a laptop on his legs as he absently went from checking various "mysterious" networks to playing solitaire. Another sat watching the rain much like Anya had, except with a faraway gaze instead of an expression of disgust on his face while he rested his sword- a true blade now, not a wooden one- in his lap. The last one sat in a far, dark corner, with his large blue cloak settled on the ground and he upon it, meditating.

All in all, it seemed a peaceful scene.

__

It was peaceful three days ago, Anya thought rebelliously. _Now it's just boring_.

Over the past many months, the young woman- now approaching her eighteenth birthday- had gained a love for wandering. Naturally, what followed was that she and her small group of Bishonen ended up travelling on foot for twenty-nine days out of every thirty. So, one could easily imagine the boredom Anya had after three days of being in the same place.

"This had better not continue tomorrow," she complained after a while of silence. "I don't think I can take any more of this."

"You're welcome to go out there anytime you like," Sanosuke said, smirking slightly.

She smacked him. "You know I hate getting rained on, Sano."

"You hate getting your parade rained on, no da?" asked a playful voice.

Both Anya and Sano turned to look at Chichiri with blank expressions.

He watched them, then sweat-dropped. "Jeez, sorry. Bad joke, n'da." With that, he returned to his meditation.

"Look at it this way, Missie," Sano said. "At least we don't have to be anywhere right now, right?"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Hey, isn't that-"

Anya glared at him. "Don't change the subject, Sano!"

"Missie, there's something out there!"

P"Yeah, right."/P

"There is!" he insisted, pointing out into the rain.

"Yeah, rain, rain, mud, and oh, yeah! Rain. Thanks, I noticed."

Now Sano smacked her, though he was just a tad easier on her head than she had been on his. "I'm serious. There's someone- no, two someones… I think it's a trainer and a B- no, a halfling."

__

A what? Anya turned to the mouth of the cave, peering out into the rain.

A young half-Bishie male was marching through the rain. It looked like his entire body was covered with mud, and his hair- which was a fiery red- seemed to be completely soaked. He was about thirty or so feet from the mouth of the cave, so it was a little hard to make out any more details through the pouring rain.

As for his companion…

Anya blinked in surprise. _What's she doing wandering around in pajamas?_

A young woman- undoubtedly human- was marching sullenly after the half-Bishie, dressed in a green pajama set. At least, it had been green before; her entire front was covered in mud, and she, too, was obviously soaked to the bone.

__

Wait a minute… Anya's eyes narrowed suspiciously. _Where's her trainer belt?_

She… she's a newbie!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Sano asked.

Anya ignored him, jumping to her feet and grabbing Chichiri's blue cloak out from under him. This earned her a startled squawk of indignation from said Bishonen (as he ended landing head first on the ground), but she was far too busy wrapping herself up in the cloak to care. "I'll be right back, everyone!"

With that, she darted out of the cave into the rain.

There was a pause.

Then, Kenshin finally spoke, murmuring, "I thought she hated rain…?"

Author's Notes- And that's a wrap for now. You'll find out a bit more about that half-Bishie and what's going to happen to both Naomi and Anya next time.


	3. Chapter Three

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Three- Unofficial Orientation

"Hey! You!"

Naomi paused from her trudging through the woods, her eyes darting back and forth among the trees. A few drops of cold rain hit her forehead, but she ignored it- she was going to get sick anyway.

Unfortunately, her "companion", the guy with red hair, only quickened his pace at the voice.

"Hey! Girl in the green! Guy with red hair!"

This time the guy stopped, turning about as Naomi heard something splashing their way towards them.

Suddenly, panic gripped her. _What if it's the person who got me out here? I wanna go home… I'm sorry for sending the project late, really! _She thought this as hard as she could at the treetops, hoping that someone would hear her and send her home.

Thankfully, she did not have long to worry.

Soon, a young woman who appeared to be a few years older than her appeared from the brushes. Most of her body was concealed underneath a long, dark blue cloak covered with white bubbles. She did not appear to be intent on harming either Naomi or the unknown guy, so Naomi relaxed a bit. After all, there was only so much one could do with mud-covered pajamas while standing barefoot in the rain.

Something tickled at her mind when she saw the cloak, but she couldn't quite place that, either.

"Who are you?" Naomi asked, hoping it would help jog her memory.

"I'm Anya. Who're you?" the girl responded immediately.

The younger girl blinked. "Naomi. Well. That was easier than with him." She glanced at the red-haired guy, who stood nearby with his arms crossed and shoulders slumped, his eyes showing obvious exasperation.

"Him?" Anya glanced at the guy, too, and then shrugged. "Eh, Half-Bishies usually aren't that receptive to trainers. What are you doing following him anyway?"

"Well, he insulted me and kept saying something about- hey, what are you talking about? Half-Bishie? Trainer?" Naomi asked. "What's going on?"

Anya smiled a little. "I've got a cave nearby. We can explain where it's dryer, if you'd like. I might have something to let you change into, too."

Naomi blinked, and then blushed as she tried to brush off some of the mud on her front. Of course, that only served to get it all over her hands. "You may have a good idea there."

"I've always got good ideas." Anya glanced at the guy. "So, wanna come with?"  
  
"No thanks. My whole plan was to get _away _from you people," the guy grunted. Then he turned and continued to trudge through the woods.

"Hey! I didn't even get that guy's name." Naomi turned to Anya and said, "I think he was trying to kidnap me."

To her surprise, Anya's eyes twinkled and the older girl's mouth stretched into an amused grin. "Really? Half-Bishies usually don't get involved with humans. Come on. Let's get you into a semi-dry place." She started to walk away, and Naomi quickly followed suit.  
  
"Sounds good. So are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"Sure. All right. You remember the website?"

"What website- oh." Naomi stopped, and paled. "Oh God…"

"Yup. Welcome to the Bishie World. Home of hot guys, sexy girls, and grumpy half-Bishies. Too bad you came on a rainy day. Though I met a girl who ended up in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm, so that's not quite too bad." Anya had continued to walk through the mud, prompting Naomi to follow as quickly as she could. "Come on."

Sano raised an eyebrow as Anya and the new girl entered the cave. Anya marched in, wringing off Chichiri's cloak (mostly flinging the wet stuff onto Sano in the process). New Girl came in a bit more shyly, glancing around as though wondering what she should do.

"Everyone, this is Naomi."

"You know, you shouldn't pick up strays, Anya. They might bite," Sano offered.

He got a handful of mud to the head for that.

"Oi, Missie! What was that for?!"

"Come on, Naomi, I think I got a couple things you can wear. Not a hell of a lot that won't drag on you, but oh well." Anya tossed the cloak onto the still upside-down Chichiri, who immediately leaped up and away from the cloak to avoid getting soaked. Then she turned around to see why Naomi was so quiet.

The girl was currently staring at Kenshin.

"You… I know you," she stammered.

Kenshin blinked out of his reverie and looked up at her. "Perhaps you do, but I do not know you, de gozaru yo," he replied slowly.

"W-wow. Himura Kenshin, right?"

She got a nod in return.

"Oh my God."

"Stop that and come over here." Anya pointed at the darker parts of the cave. "Go back there and change. 'Chiri chased out all the snakes, so you shouldn't get bitten by anything dangerous back there."  
  
"Gee, thanks," Naomi muttered. Then she blushed, realizing for the first time that she was in the presence of four Bishonen. With wet pajamas. "Oh, my God."

"Da? What's wrong?" Chichiri looked up, eyebrows raised.

Naomi stared. "You're the one whose cloak that was!" she announced, as though realizing something important. "So that guy back there.. He must've been Tasuki?!"

"No, actually," Anya interrupted, handing Naomi a towel and the clothes. "Now _change _before I change you for you."

Naomi blushed again, accepting the clothes, and went around a small rock ledge to do as Anya bade her. "What do you mean by no, actually?"

"That was a half-Bishie. Half Bishonen, half human."

"You mean we're compatible?!"

Anya slapped her own forehead. "Why does everyone find that so hard to believe? Or such a big friggin' deal?"  
  
"I think it is," Sano offered, smirking.

He got another handful of mud to the head.

"OW! Damn it, Anya…" He jumped to his feet and scooped up his own dirt.

"Yeek! Heero, save me!"

Heero looked up from his keyboard for a moment. "It's just dirt," he said, with just the slightest hint of exasperation in his voice. Then he returned to his laptop.

Naomi rounded the corner, dressed and warm again, to see Anya getting a face-full of dirt from her Bishonen.

"Ew! Jeez!" Anya brushed off the dirt, then tackled Sano. "I'll get you for that!"

"Ha! You're no good at wrestling, Missie. You're going down."  
  
"Oh yeah?"  
  
"Wha- hey! N-n-not fair! Cut it out!"

Naomi blinked as the two continued to tumble around, swearing and generally making a bigger mess of themselves than before.

"They're always like that. Don't worry about it, no da," Chichiri said, surprising her.

"Oh. Really? She seemed so calm…"

"Calm? No one can stay calm after hanging around Sano for as long as she has, n'da," the blue-haired Bishonen said, smiling at her.

"I guess you've got a point," Naomi conceded. She turned, and looked at Heero. "So what's your name?"  
  
The Bishonen continued to type away, merely grunting, "Heero."

"Huh." Naomi blinked. "Sorry, I've never heard of you," she told him.

She only got a shrug of the shoulders.

At this point, Sano and Anya stopped, getting to their feet and brushing themselves and each other off, grumbling good-naturedly. "Sorry about that," Anya apologized with a sheepish grin. "Sometimes we get carried away with things."

"Uh-huh. Okay."

Anya looked around, and then sat down again, this time on her bedroll. She motioned for Naomi to do the same with her, and the younger girl obeyed. Then the experienced trainer said, "Okay. What do you want to know about Bishies?"  
  
"A lot, really."  
  
"Shoot. You have until the rain stops. Then we head to town."

"So everything's basically the same as before. Just the technology is different," Anya finished. "You can actually buy a belt and set of Bish-balls that'll act as dorm rooms for the Bishies. They can access each other when they're all inside. I don't remember the actual name for it. I call it Bish-dorms. And the Dex, well, it's like an ultra cell phone slash mini computer now. You can voice activate it, and you don't have to deal with it being as annoying as it was for me."  
  
Naomi sat there, trying her best to take everything in. It was amazing to her, how simply she could walk outside and run into Bishonen and Bishoujo she'd dreamt of meeting for months, or even years. She would have considered it, too, if Anya hadn't mentioned something else that was new around the block.

Monsters.

Apparently, one could buy a clip to add to the Bish-belt that added in "random encounter attacks" from monsters, much like in the Final Fantasy games. Usually, one needed said clip. However, the world-which was part real, part digital, and part fantasy- had occasional bugs in it.

Naomi shuddered, struck with the idea of running into an Ochu  monster.

"Finally stopped raining," Sano observed. During the conversation, he had plopped himself behind Anya and had been busy either playing with her hair or giving her a neck rub.

Anya rolled her shoulders back and gave him a grin of appreciation. "Really? That's good. We can get going, then. It's only midday."  
  
"Are you serious? It was nighttime when I clicked on the link!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Yup. Time works differently. For some reason, people almost always show up in the morning here. I guess it's so they don't freak out about being alone in the middle of the night." Anya looked over at the younger girl. "What were you doing, anyway?"  
  
"Nothing important." Naomi blushed. "Late project."

"Aah. Well, let's get going. With luck, we'll reach a town by nightfall."

Ochu is a monster from the Final Fantasy game series. It's generally a giant, evil plant that gives you lots of annoying status ailments like poisoning and blinding your characters. (smacks the Ochus in all games EVER.) Meh.

That afternoon, Naomi had her first experience with the world growing due to the existence of a new set of Bishies.

The group was walking along together, Naomi walking close to Anya, said older trainer close to Sano, and everyone else walking along behind.

Since Naomi had gotten over her awe, she hadn't been able to speak to any of the Bishonen, having been struck with a fit of shyness. Thankfully, the Bishonen didn't seem to notice. They didn't prompt her to talk to them.

Anya had one of the monster clips with her, but she turned it off as they had left the cave in order to avoid slowing themselves down while on the road. Instead, she had her own, updated Dex out, looking at a small set of directions.

"Lost?" Sano grunted.

"No. It's just there's a warning here about something, that's all. I can't figure out what it is. Maybe it's a monster-boss attack nearby."

"Monster-boss?" Naomi asked.

"Like monsters, but stronger."  
  
"Oh, right."

"Heero, would you look at this?"  
  
Said Bishonen walked up to Anya and took the Dex, inspecting the small map on the screen. Naomi guessed he was some sort of technical Bishonen. "Don't know," he said. "Maybe a change in weather?"

"Ugh. It better not rain," Anya groaned. "I-"

"-hate rain," the Bishonen all chorused together.

"We noticed," Sano said dryly.

Anya rolled her eyes, then took back the Dex. She pointedly ignored Heero's small smile. "Let's keep going. We'll see soon enough."

"Right," Naomi agreed.

The group soon did see what was to happen.

Instinctively, Sano grabbed onto Anya, as did Heero and Kenshin. Naomi, not knowing what was going on, blushed deeply when Chichiri put a hand on her arm and reached out for his trainer as well.

Too late.

In what looked like an instant, Anya and the other three Bishonen were gone, as well as the forest they had been walking through. Instead, the two stood alone in the middle of a huge field.

Chichiri sighed, lowering his arm and releasing Naomi. "Well, looks like that was it, n'da," he said, shaking his head ruefully.  
  
"What? What happened?" Naomi asked. "Where's Anya?"

"They're to the northwest, the direction we're headed." At Naomi's confused look, Chichiri said, "It's just that the world expanded again. Does it all the time, no da. Thankfully it's only four miles to get to Anya and the others, n'da."

"Four miles? Don't you feel ill, though? Anya said-"

"That's only over extended time periods, n'da. I'm fine as long as we get there. Come on. Can't leave you alone or Anya will have my head, na no da." He then pulled off his hat and held it out to her so she could see the inside.

She blinked.

"Hop in, n'da. If you know any of my abilities, then-"

"Oh! Sorry, right!" Naomi smiled sheepishly at him, then reached one hand out for the hat.

She hesitated, suddenly feeling a bit silly, not to mention lightheaded. Here she was, standing in the middle of nowhere in someone else's clothes, talking to a character that wasn't supposed to exist. And he was asking her to jump into his hat.

_How weird is this? _part of her mind whispered.

"Da? Miss Naomi, you okay n'da?" Chichiri asked, wondering at her hesitation.

She blinked. "Oh! Sorry!"

With that, she moved her hand towards the inside of the hat.

Her hand went right through the straw material, and kept on going. Then, her other one followed of its own accord, until her body up to her shoulders was in the hat.

For a moment, nothing happened. Naomi began to fidget and squirm, wondering if she had somehow managed to get herself stuck, half in and half out of the hat. But before she could worry for very long, she felt a gentle shove from behind.

And, before she could really get comfortable about the thought of actually falling into a stranger's hat, she felt the rest of herself sucked into the darkness.

"EEEK-!"

Author's Notes- Sorry for the long wait, everybody. But look! I made this a fairly long chapter! Be happy! (Smiles) Anyway, hopefully the new technologies make sense to you all. And I hope that I didn't confuse any new readers by skipping a lot of stuff; it's just that I didn't want Anya to explain everything like I did in the first story. You'll figure out what she explained soon enough, I figure.

Oh, about entries into the Bishie world I'm creating: since people are still asking to be put in (which I am still flattered about!), I will give you one more chance. You have until I put up chapter four of this fic to enter yourself. Then I'll do my best to enter everyone in somehow, because I still feel guilty about not letting everyone in last time. Good luck!

Thank you for reading, and until next time…

(In the background, her Muses Darian and Akira stand over a desk covered with books, papers, and half-used pens and pencils. They smirk evilly as the authoress races back to the desk to attempt to work on another story. Darian cracks a whip nearby, making the authoress wince and the other muse glare at him. He shrugs, puts the whip away, and pouts. The authoress continues to write frantically.)


	4. Chapter Four

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Four: A Puzzling Dilemma/ A Passing Dream

The Programmer sighed, leaning back in their large, plushy swivel chair.

It was hard to tell what gender, exactly, the Programmer was; they had long hair, but their face was a tad too strong to be called "pretty". Their skin was very pale, from too much time working inside and too little time in the sunlight.

_Oh well, _the Programmer thought absently, after a glance at their hands. _Tans are overrated, anyhow._

There was a lot of work to be had for taking up the thankless job of Programmer. Only LSS-sama and Tokio-sama even knew of their existence; the rest of the universe believed that the Bishie world had been created out of thin air, out of mere magic.

_If only they knew, _the Programmer thought with a wry smile. _Adding in new territories, sending in new people, taking out the old… no rest for the wicked here, that's for sure! At least I get a good sample of every new fantasy before anyone else. _

Thankfully, though, the Programmer had just started their short break, a time where the Programmer could do whatever they wished: read, sleep, eat…

_Or work on one of the most puzzling dilemmas ever; the concept of humans from my former world being "compatible" with Bishies from purely fictional worlds._

And it was a dilemma, to be sure. To disable the compatibility was far too great a task, though it was by far the simplest solution. It would be nigh impossible to send the half-Bishies into their own little corner of the Bish-world, since their existence and life began with two full-bloods. It would be cruel to attempt to try to kill off the half-Bishies.

What was left?

_To send them elsewhere, of course.___

But where?

The Programmer sighed, tapping one finger against one of the many keyboards that lined their workroom. Then they stared blankly about at the hundreds of screens filled with data- _Matrix, anyone? - _as though they'd already have the answer somewhere in the Bishie-world.

_If only the creators hadn't approved of this. It's understandable that parents would want to have children, eventually, but still… people in my former world had enough trouble getting along with separate religions, people from different countries! Much less different races entirely._

_I know I'm thinking too hard. Jeez. This would be like Miaka having a child with Tamahome in the book world, only more complicated. _

The Programmer shook their head, then, defying their own lack of ideas, began to scrawl out a general thought on a bit of loose-leaf nearby.

_Maybe…_

_._

Author's Note- Miaka and Tamahome come from Fushigi Yuugi, the Mysterious Play. They're the main couple. Miaka comes from one world, and Tamahome's a character in an ancient Chinese book. Small world, ne?

.

_If only._

Natala looked out of the windows of the city bus, watching the many buildings and people go by. It was raining, of course- on the very day that she hadn't thought to bring an umbrella or raincoat. Her books were about to be soaked.

_I'll bet the Library will love that!_

She brushed some of her dark hair out of her green eyes with one hand, and then blinked at the watch on her arm. The digital numbers read 4:37 p.m.

One of the books in her lap began to slip towards the ground.

She blinked and made a grab for it, catching it just before it hit the floor of the bus. However, that left another book free to slip, and she had to grab that while trying to secure the first one.

In moments she was a regular juggler, frantically trying to keep all of the books (and herself!) from falling onto the ground.

Unfortunately, the bus decided to make a too-hasty stop at a red light, sending her nose-first into the back of the next seat and all of her books tumbling onto the floor of the bus.

"Oww…"

She blushed at having caused a scene in such a quiet atmosphere. Then she hurried to try and pick them all up.

_"Jeez, Nat-chan, you're so clumsy. It's a wonder you don't kill yourself on a daily basis!"_

Natala's head snapped up. "Yusuke?!"

But no; the only other person on the bus besides her and the driver was an old man, sleeping away.

Her shoulders sagged with disappointment, and she hunched over her school things as the bus neared her stop.

_Must've been imagining things again... God, I miss him. And Kagome!_

The sixteen year old girl allowed a sigh to pass her lips at the thought of her old friends, and let herself wonder for a moment what they could be doing.

_If only I could've stayed…_

She signaled the driver of the bus, and once again the bus made a far-too-hasty stop a few feet beyond the actual stop point. Thankfully, Natala managed to keep all of her things together, and ran out towards the shelter near the bus stop with a shout of thanks towards the driver.

The bus doors closed, and the vehicle trundled off.

Natala set her things down on the small bench within the shelter, and then began to search through her bag for her cell phone. _Mom's going to kill me for being so late! Oh well… It's not like I can help when the bus shows up and when it doesn't..._

She pulled out her new phone and flipped it open.

She stared at the Dex in her hand.

"Wha-?!"

For a moment, it was as clear as could be; the Dex settled in her hand much more comfortably than her cell phone, with a small screen to use for looking up information or for speaking to someone face to face. Dials and buttons she had never been able to properly identify lined both the numerical buttons and the color screen itself. A picture of Kagome, her former Bishoujo, appeared in the screen.

"K-chan?!"

She stared at it, not sure what to do. Slowly, she brought the Dex up to her ear, whispering, "Kagome? Yusuke?"

She heard nothing but a dull dial tone.

Natala pulled her hand back to look at the Dex, and her face crumpled with disappointment; she held her cell phone once more.

_I must be losing my mind… Dexes and Bishies don't exist here. That was in the past. I can't think about that now. I've got work to do. Work and real life. That was just… a good dream. A passing one._

She called her mother, and apologized for being late. Then she picked up her books and hurried off through the rain. Unbidden, a thought she'd tried to suppress came to mind:

_But if it was just a passing phase or dream, then why does it hurt so much when I can't turn around and see them smiling at me?_

_._

Author's Notes- Time's up, everyone! I will no longer accept any entries into this story. Though I was really, really surprised at the number of people who wanted to show up, even if it's just a walk-on part! It's going to take a while before I can even consider adding anyone else in, assuming anyone will want to, of course!

So what do you think Programmer-san's up to, eh? And what's going on with Natala? Is she depressed, or going insane? Or is something else going on? What about what's going on with Anya and the others? You'll see!

To magicalflyingdragon: In this version of the Bishie world, Bishies include any character that is fiction. You can have them from books, from anime, games, even TV shows. Just remember- you can have Legolas the Elf, but you can't have Orlando Bloom! (Sorry!)

Oh, and to Jade-Jaganashi- well, actually, to EVERYONE: Jade-san suggested that someone set up a forum. I have no life and very few forum skills other than posting in them, so would anyone be interested in starting up a new Bishie forum somewhere? Though I think we might want to ask LSS-sama just to be polite… she IS the founder of the Bishoujo site, after all… good luck!


	5. Chapter Five

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Five: A Loss/ Let the Lessons Begin

It took quite a while for Naomi and Chichiri to find Anya and the others. The trip by hat had ended up with the hat getting stuck in a tree, with a disgruntled monk and an embarrassed new trainer in a pile underneath said tree. It took a few moments to recover the hat, during which Chichiri remarked that he enjoyed walking anyhow, his ears burning in the cool shade. Overall, their search took over two hours of wandering through the woods and the new plains area, attempting to avoid dangerous plants that the monk pointed out to the new girl.

By the end of their hike, Naomi had a rather large collection of small cuts and bruises from having been smacked by mischievous tree branches, tripping over rocks, and being pricked by flowers with thorns. Chichiri, of course, had no such injuries, as he knew his way around nature well and, most importantly, knew where he had to go to reach his trainer.

Naomi could tell whenever they were nearing Chichiri's trainer- the Bishonen would quicken his pace for a bit, his masked face scrunched up in concentration as he tried to pinpoint Anya's exact location. The first time this happened, Naomi had felt very relieved, having just barely dodged falling into a large group of poison ivy (she'd learned to her dismay that the Bishie world still had such plants). Then she'd realized Chichiri was merely feeling relief from nearing Anya, and kept quiet.

They discovered Heero first. The Bishonen was sitting on a large rock with, not his laptop, but a handheld with a small stick in his free hand. He looked quite unhappy about this.

"Um, hi. Is Anya nearby?" Naomi asked.

Heero looked up at her, still frowning. "Yes. She's fine."

"What happened to your lap-topped computer?" Chichiri asked, sounding slightly smug about his knowledge of Heero's favorite pastime.

Heero's expression suddenly resembled that of a boy mourning his lost best friend. "Sano dropped it," he said.

"What was Sano doing with it, n'da?"  
  
"He's tallest. He gets to wade through the water with important stuff. That ass," Heero remarked coolly.

"What, you couldn't store it away?" Naomi asked.

Heero gave her an indignant look. "Solitaire is _timed,"_ he explained. "And I was on my tenth game. _Timed._ And it doesn't save until you lose after a string of wins."

"Solitaire?!"

"He loves it," said a voice nearby.

Naomi looked up to see Anya running a brush through her damp hair. "Good thing it stopped raining," Anya remarked cheerfully, "or we'd all be getting colds by now."

"That stretch of land we traveled was pretty dry, no da," Chichiri observed, settling himself next to Anya on the ground.

"Welcome back," Anya said with a grin.

"Where's Sano, no da?"

"He's burying Heero's laptop." Anya rolled her eyes at Heero, who was poking his handheld far too sharply to be doing it any good. "Heero, put that away before you break that. You can wait until we get to town."

Heero did so, wiping his face clear of any expression just as Sano came through the trees from another direction.

"It's done," Sano grunted, crossing his arms and glaring at Heero's back. "Personally I'm glad it's gone. That thing had you possessed or somethin'."

Naomi frowned, noticing that Sano was wetter than the others.__

_My bet is Heero threw him back into the water when the laptop got fried. Hmm. _

Kenshin, who she had not noticed until now, sat to one side cross-legged, apparently trying to ignore everything that was going on. However, a small smirk on his face betrayed him.

Heero tensed. "You _destroyed_ my laptop. You dropped it in _water _when it was _on, _then picked it up and _threw it _onto a sharp _rock_ before it tumbled _back into the water._ Do you know how long I've had it?"

"No, and I don't really care. Ne, Anya, are we going or not? I have no wish to be anywhere near that mini-river OR Heero's former comp-yew-terr."

"All right, all right. Heero, you wanna say your goodbyes?"

Heero stood up, gave them all a look of great indignation mixed with sorrow, then turned and headed in the direction Sanosuke had come from.

Naomi blinked. "Wow. Are Heeros generally that intense about their computers?"

"They're technological maniacs," Anya agreed. "Never capture one, okay?"

"Uh, okay."

That said, the group readied themselves for another walk until they reached town.

.

And what a town it was.

Naomi couldn't help but stare about. The place seemed to be populated by both guys and girls, adults and children. People wandered around with Bishonen she did and did not recognize by their sides.

One trainer and Bishie were arguing as they passed them by.

"…can't you ever _try _something new? Just once?"

"Milady, something new is not necessarily something good," the Bishonen responded, resplendent in a suit of armor. "One ought to be cautious, lest thou art harmed by its influence."

The trainer rolled her eyes. "Why, oh why did I capture a knight from a David Eddings series?" she muttered.

"Mine ears shall ignore that statement, milady," the knight Bishonen stated with dignity.

"Whatever."

A group of Bishoujo- the female counterparts of Bishonen- were surrounding a young man. Said young man was telling them some sort of a story, and Naomi heard a bit of it as they passed.

"…And so this guy comes outta nowhere, sword swinging like crazy, right? And he thinks that he's being righteous and all since his lord told him to do that, even though he knows his lord's doing stuff that's not in his country's best interest. So then…"

_Methinks he needs a bit more storytelling practice,_ Naomi thought with a small wince.

Suddenly, she found herself walking into Anya's back, and stumbled back before they could fall and hurt themselves. Chichiri steadied her with a firm grip on her shoulder, and she gave him a small smile of thanks. While she was still slightly uneasy when talking to Anya's other Bishies, she was fairly comfortable with the monk after having traveled a bit with him.

"Here we are," Anya said, gesturing towards one of the buildings. "Orientation."

Naomi looked up obediently, and couldn't help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Anya asked.

"It looks so… _normal!"_ Naomi said, shaking her head. "That kinda building doesn't belong here!"

"People seem to think normal stuff in the middle of a bizarre place will make you feel better." Anya shrugged, though she did give the ordinary-looking building a strange look. "Well… good luck on your travels, Naomi."

The young woman blinked, then frowned. "You're not gonna wait for me?"

Anya suddenly looked a bit sheepish and a tad uncomfortable. "Um, well, it's been three days since I last got to walk. I'd like to make it to the next town, at least. I hear they've got Teleporter Services there." At Naomi's blank look she explained, "They can teleport you to different parts of the Bishie World."

"Oh."

Sano looked from trainer to newbie trainer, and a strange expression crossed his face when he saw Naomi cast her eyes down and mutter that one syllable. Then, he said, "Missie, m'leg's sore. I demand one night in a hotel. Here."

"Here?" Anya turned to give him a startled look. "Why didn't you say so? Let's head to a doctor's for you and check it out, okay?"

"Che, it's not _that _bad," Sano muttered, flushing at her concern. "Just needs some rest."

Catching on to Sano's idea, Chichiri cut in, "I think we ought to stock up on supplies if we're gonna teleport, n'da." He flashed Naomi a grin.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Okay, we'll do that."

"I need to buy a laptop," Heero added quietly.

"And I need new supplies to keep my sword in shape," Kenshin said, then added quickly, "de gozaru yo."

"Fine! _Fine, _I say!" Anya threw up her hands. "We'll stay the night. Look, Naomi. We'll find a hotel and book a couple of rooms. One sec." She pulled out her Dex, then ran over to one of the other trainers, apparently asking for something. She ended up running back with a piece of paper and a pencil. She scribbled some numbers down, then handed the paper to Naomi. "There, that's my number. Use that on your Dex when you get one, and you'll get me. We'll tell you where we are, so when you're done sightseeing an' all you can hang out with us. Mmkay?"

Naomi smiled. "Sure, thanks!" She took the paper and put it away, then couldn't help but smile at Anya's Bishies. To her surprise (and minor embarrassment), Sano winked at her before pretending to limp towards his trainer.

Anya sighed. "Honestly, Sano, you ought to watch out for hurting yourself like that."

"I can watch after myself fine, Missie."

"Don't you say 'fine' to _me. _We're finding that hotel and getting you some ice. See ya later, Naomi," the older trainer added politely before dragging her Bishie away. Amused, the rest of her group followed.

Naomi watched them go, a small smile on her face. _Wow. That Sano's not bad, for a Sano. Heh._ She turned and looked at the building again, which resembled her father's office. _Okay, now what… I guess I should go in…_

The young woman did so, finding it even stranger that the office building had swinging doors. She'd expected something a tad more… unusual… to be used as a door.

The lobby of the building was huge, littered with furniture and old magazines. Picking one up curiously, the young woman discovered they all had something to do with Bishies, including the ones that greatly resembled _Seventeen, Gaming Tips Monthly, _or even _Gardening._ A newspaper had an article with an interview with a Trigun Bishonen, Vash, about how his obsession of doughnuts had led him to accidentally destroy an entire city. Another article had a picture of a Harry Potter in his late teens, with the title of _Order of the Phoenix: Deep Angst or Just Annoying?_

A small cough made the young woman jump and turn. She flushed when she saw that a lady was sitting behind a desk there. She walked up. "Um, hi."

"New trainer, dear?" the young woman asked.

Naomi nodded.

"Just head up to floor two and ask for Professor Kamira. She'll help you out."

"Okay, uh, thanks."

Naomi looked about, then spotted an elevator. As she approached it, the elevator opened, revealing a group of young men being followed (and in some cases, dragged) by their Bishoujo.

One young man was being dragged by a Tira, a Sorcerer Hunters Bishoujo. She had used her whip to tie him up, and the young man was trying to escape her.

Another young man was pouting, and Naomi had to take another look to realize why- he, unlike the others, had a Bishonen following him. The Bishonen looked quite happy to be where he was, but the young man seemed to think that today wasn't such a good time.

Naomi stepped away to let them pass. One or two of them noticed her, and grinned. One waved. The others were a bit too focused on their Bishies to notice, for various reasons.

The door of the elevator was beginning to close when a voice cried, "Wait!"

Naomi quickly held out an arm to stop the doors as a blur of white and blue came through. Then she removed her arm, and pressed floor two.

"Wow, thanks," the blur panted. "I hate waiting for elevators to go back and forth!"

"No problem."  
  
Naomi found that the blur turned out to be a young woman, perhaps younger than herself; the blue part of the blur was the girl's shirt, and the white her shorts, with a red emblem resembling a dragon on the right part of said shorts.

"I'm Sara," the girl said, holding out a hand after a moment.

"Naomi," the other replied, accepting the hand. "Are you new, too?"  
  
Sara nodded. "Yup. What do you think we're gonna do on floor two?"

Naomi paused. "Well, I'd guess we're getting those cell phone thingies. Another trainer said they were called Dexes."

"Like in Pokemon?"

"I guess."

At this, the doors to the elevator opened, and the two young women stepped out to take a look around.

Naomi blinked, then said, "Oh my God, this is my high school!"

"What?!"

Naomi then checked herself, blushing. "No, no, sorry. It just looks like a high school in here!"

Indeed it did. The hallway, while not filled with students running to class, _did _have lockers along the walls. A water fountain sat right outside one of the classes. As far as Naomi could see, the entire floor was one long hallway that imitated a school hallway.

The girls made their way down the hallway, peeking through doors to see what they had inside. Some had groups of people- one was another small group of guys, one a group of girls, and some Naomi couldn't really tell. Some of the classrooms were empty and locked. There was a list of names outside each door, and after a few minutes, Sara suggested that they were the names of the students inside each class. Hoping to discover where they were supposed to go, they started investigating each list they came across.

They were reading down one list when a voice said, "Hi! You must be my next class!"

Sara jumped, and Naomi turned to see someone watching them amusedly.

She had very long, black hair that was cut into a point at the very bottom. She wore very casual clothing- jeans and a shirt- under a white lab coat.

"I'm Professor Kamira. But call me Kami-chan, okay?" The professor in question ed.

"Uh, okay," Naomi said.

"What're we gonna do up here?"  
  
"Just some basic stuff," Kami-chan replied. "You know, tell you a couple of rules, give you some stuff, let you take a look about at what types of Bishies you may like, and so on." She paused, then added, "I think you're the last two coming in this hour. Well, we can always check, can't we? Let's get going!"

The three did not have too far to go; it turned out that Kami-chan's room had been locked, but the lights were on and a few other girls sat in said classroom.

The room in question also greatly resembled a room from a high school. The desks were almost uncomfortably small, and crowded together in the middle of the room. A larger desk sat in one corner underneath a television, and the blackboard had scribbles all over, ranging from _Bishonen 101 _to _JACK-KUN WUZ HERE._ Pictures of Bishies doing a number of things hung all over the room.

"Take a seat," Kami-chan said. Sara and Naomi obeyed, finding it slightly unnerving to find that there were exactly two desks free. Naomi sat next to a girl who was sleeping, and Sara sat in a corner.

"All right, I think you're all here now." Kami-chan grinned. "I'm Kami-chan, your Professor. We're here to talk about Bishies and general rules in this world, and whether or not this world is truly right for you. We'll have my Bishies Misty, Starfire, Beastboy, and Izzy talk to you for a bit."

_Sounds good, _Naomi thought as said Bishies came into the room as if on cue. She smiled, recognizing the middle two from Teen Titans, and one each from Pokemon and Digimon. _I can't wait to hear how you meet up with future Bishies. This is gonna be so cool!_

"But before we get started," Kami-chan said suddenly, "we'll be observing a moment of silence…"

_Oh no, I hate those… why can't we skip that and get to the good stuff?_ Naomi glanced about and, judging by the other girl's expressions (other than the one who was sleeping), she was not alone in these thoughts.

"…for you all to admire and coo at my beautiful hair."

_WHAT?!_

Newbies and Bishies alike face-faulted at this statement, spoken in a very calm, knowing voice. Naomi looked up to see if her Professor was serious, and was a bit nervous to see what she was.

_Oh jeez… it's a female Hotohori…_

"Dear Trainer, can we not move on to the more pressing matters and have them admire your hair at a later time and space?" Starfire suggested quietly, a small smile on her face.

"My hair _is _a pressing matter!"

"Yes, but, dear trainer, you may have more time at the end of the lesson to have them admire you."

Kami-chan considered this for a moment. For a very long moment.

THUD.

Misty dropped her giant mallet to the ground, shaking her head. "She takes too long thinking," she proclaimed, "as usual. Therefore, we shall give you your lesson until Kami-chan recovers. Let it be known that anybody who speaks while I'm speaking shall gain the same fate as my trainer, only ten times worse."

Izzy rolled his eyes and went to the television to turn it on.

As most teenagers do when in a class, Naomi immediately went into "Class Movie" mode and settled down to stare blankly at the screen for the next few minutes…

.

Author's Notes- I hope that makes up for the short chapter I gave you last time. I also am hoping that I'm making the place seem… well, more real I suppose. And to Kamira and Sara, I hope you were portrayed as you wished!

To Chronogirl72- Natala is a new character, whose bio I was given by a reader. I like Sano/Anya fluff too, but I'm wary about putting lots of romance in as that's not my strong point.

Fire Phoenix- A few notes on half-Bishies to you; being half and half, they can't properly use Bish-balls on full-bloods, and even if it worked for them, the Bishies in question won't normally respect them. They can't be caught by Bish-balls, either. Thus the question of where they belong.

And to everyone else- I'm sorry, but I can't use chats so if you would like my input, I would greatly suggest a forum. I heard you can make them on ez board .com. That's where the old Bishonen forum was. (hint hint) And thank you for reading!


	6. Chapter Six

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Six: A First

Naomi filed out of the class room after the other girls, eyes wide and feeling much, much more alert than she had been at the beginning of the Orientation Presentation. Her mind seemed to be filled to the brim- and then some! - with information and laws and what sorts of Bishies she would like to have in her company.

Of course, a lot of the presentation had been things Anya had told her about; not leaving one's Bishies a far distance away, for example. Or useful ways of traveling, or places to begin a career if one wished to get a steady job in the Bishie world. Naomi had no real interest in settling down with a job, of all things- that was expected back home, but one didn't _need _a job here! All one had to do was have a Bishie willing to battle another, and the victor would receive credits they could use to pay for things.

But she'd learned something else that was interesting, too- the reason that one entered the Bishie world via Internet.

_"The Bishie world is a complex setup, even more so than your old world if you would believe it! Simply put, it's partially digital, giving you the OPTION of battling, it's partially fantasy- well, how else would Bishies exist? - and partially reality. That's your part of the world."_

And now, with her mind bursting with all of this good fortune, she and her fellow classmates were off to meet with the best and last part of the presentation-

-their Bish-balls, Dexes, and a real-life, dream come true Bishie.

Naomi could not properly identify the emotions she was feeling at that moment. She felt slightly dizzy, and wanted to talk but didn't really want anyone talking to _her. _Her stomach suddenly seemed filled with butterflies, and for some reason she couldn't bring herself to stop patting at her hair.

Kami-chan, her professor, noticed this. Kindly, she said, "It's okay. I know it's intimidating meeting a Bishie with such flat hair, but you'll be fine! I've seen girls with much, much worse hair. Imagine having your hair frizzed up like you were on lightning! One girl was actually struck by lightning before she came in," she added thoughtfully. "But anyway, what was I saying?"

Naomi said, "You were thinking about comforting that girl," she said, pointing at random. "Oh yes, thank you." And Kami-chan wandered off, her Bishies following in her stead.

And Naomi was once again left alone to try to calm herself down.

Thankfully, she wasn't the only one. One girl was putting on so much makeup she began to resemble a clown, albeit a worried one. Another pulled at her shirt. Sara was mumbling to herself about acting like an idiot in front of a Bishie, adding the syllable "Ku" rapidly at the end of each sentence.

Finally, the group reached the fifth floor of the executive-type building, and entered the hallway there hesitantly. This particular hallway resembled a rich hotel, and when Naomi glanced in one of the rooms they passed she could see they all had higher ceilings and chandeliers. Apparently this was to be their meeting place.

They reached the room they were to enter a few moments later. The door was closed and the window was covered, causing more of them to look about nervously. Kami-chan walked up before them and regarded the group calmly.

"You have two major rules in here. One, don't glomp the Bishies unless you and they have already claimed each other. Two, no starting food fights or you get an immediate trip back to your old home. Understood?"

Naomi was one of the few to nod, while the rest stared at the door.

"All right. Head on in, everyone!" With that, Kami-chan opened the door with a flourish.

Naomi looked about to see who would be the first to enter and look about. Finding no one ahead of her, she turned to see that everyone else had huddled behind her, watching her expectantly. _Okay, that's not fair!_ Naomi mentally protested. But when all they did was watch her, she had no choice but to sigh and walk into the room.

What looked to be about a hundred handsome young men and fifty beautiful young women turned to see who had entered.

Naomi blushed deeply at this, recognizing Bishies instantly. There was Link from the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, dressed in his green tunic and white tights, holding an ocarina loosely in one hand. And there, there was Rand from that book series by Robert Jordan, dressed in a pair of black leggings and a shirt with a dragon on it. In one corner, a Duo was animatedly talking to a Yuffie from Final Fantasy 7. A Megumi was comparing her laugh to that of a Naga- they had a whole corner to themselves, and the Bishies nearest them had their fingers rammed into their ears.

She was given a light push from behind, and jumped away from the door in embarrassment, knowing she'd been staring.

The young woman glanced about again for a place to begin wandering, and decided that one of the long tables with food on it would be a good start. If they had ginger ale, maybe she could calm down a bit more.

She was on her way when she heard someone yell, "GIRLS! _BABE!"_

Again, she jumped as a brown and black blur raced at her, and ducked as the blur leaped at her- it went crashing into the table, sending food and drink flying. Other Bishies sighed and moved away.

The blur rubbed his head, and then grinned. "Babe! Go on a date with me!"

_Carrot. Dear God, this is THE Carrot from Sorcerer Hunters!_

Naomi stared as he jumped from the table as though he'd never been injured, watching her expectantly.

"Um," she managed.

This seemed good enough for him, since usually he was sent away with a smack and a scream of "Pervert!" "I'm Carrot Glace, the Messenger of Love!" he declared. "Come with me and I shall grant you a gateway to heaven!"

Suddenly, he was smacked upside the head. Naomi blinked, realizing that a Chocolate Bishoujo from the same series had appeared. "Darling, I thought we agreed on this!" she scolded, dragging him away. "We both agree on the trainer…."

Unable to think of anything better to do, Naomi reached for a bottle of ginger ale and poured herself a drink.

For a couple of minutes, she watched the other girls try their luck. One was being harassed by a Sain Bishonen from Fire Emblem 7, Rekka no Ken. He was apparently spouting bad poetry. The girl, far too polite to walk away, looked embarrassed. A Kent Bishonen from the same game ordered Sain away before politely speaking with the girl.

_Fire Emblem, wow… I wonder what other kinds of game characters there are here!! _she thought.

She felt a tug on her sleeve, and turned to see a Raenef Demon-Lord Bishonen smiling brightly at her. "Hi! I'm Raenef the... the… the fifth, I think. Eclipse would know, anyways," he said cheerfully. "What's yours?" "I'm Naomi, um, the first." She mentally kicked herself at how stupid that had sounded.

"Really? I wish I was a first," he said, giving her an envious look. Then he brightened again. "Wanna play?"

"Play what?" she asked.

"I dunno. Oh yeah…" he sighed. "Eclipse always says I should be serious. Ahem." He cleared his throat, then boomed, _"How dare you ask such an inane question, vermin?!"_

She stared at him while he looked hopefully at her. "How was that?" he asked.

"Very frightening," she assured him, not having the heart to tell him how cute he was.

"Really? I can't wait to try on Eclipse!"

Naomi glanced away for a moment to think, and then returned her gaze to his. "Are you all captured, or something?" He laughed. "Don't be silly- I mean, _do not be foolish, human!_ We're all here because we wanna be with someone. We volunteered to join with a trainer. After all, this way we get a chance to pick, too."

"Huh. That's a cool idea."

The two talked for a couple more minutes as Naomi slowly became more comfortable with talking to a person who technically wasn't supposed to exist. She watched as one girl- Naomi recalled her name was Semi-chan- plied a Duo _and _a Vash Bishonen with doughnuts and soda. Apparently the girl was talking about something very complicated, because Naomi didn't understand half of the words she overheard in the conversation. The two Bishies looked confused as well, but were happy enough with their newfound supplies of sugar.

One of the older girls in their group- Haili, Naomi remembered- was speaking to a Cye Bishonen from the anime Ronin Warriors. Naomi remembered this girl's name because Kami-chan had repeatedly noted that this girl's hair rivaled her own, and had looked at Haili suspiciously for the entire class for some reason.

"Am I boring you?"

Naomi snapped her eyes back to Raenef. "No, it's just so hard to take all of this in," she said honestly.

Raenef nodded as another Bishonen came up towards them. "It must be weird. I can't imagine leaving my world for another."

"In the manga you kinda did. You went from thief to demon," Naomi pointed out.

"Thief to demon?" the new Bishonen asked quietly, looking disapproving of such a thought.

After a moment, Naomi said, "You're Tanis Half-Elven from the Dragonlance Series, aren't you?"

He nodded. "And you are?" Naomi introduced herself again. Raenef slipped away to speak to one of the other young women as the two went into conversation.

Naomi spoke to quite a few Bishies before an hour had passed. After Tanis, she'd met a roaring drunk Tasuki, and had sworn to never capture one no matter how much she loved him in the anime. She met with Link, and a Legolas and Aragorn afterwards. However, despite her temptation to ask Legolas to join her, there was something in the way he and Aragorn had continued to just stare at each other during the conversation. Naomi had nothing against yaoi pairings, but decided she, as a fan girl, was hardly ready to deal with such a thing so early on. She'd politely moved on and left them to their staring.

She met some Bishoujo, too, though mostly they were from books she'd read. One was Rhapsody, and another a 13 year old version of Talia from a Mercedes Lackey series. Of course, Firesong from the same series sauntered over and teased her for a bit until a Silverfox dragged him off. Then she met a Relena, who (to her utter surprise) was a very quiet and sweet-sounding girl. This was a novelty to Naomi, who'd never particularly liked said character in the series of Gundam Wing.

After a while, she looked around to see how the others were faring, and felt a bit nervous again. Sara had latched herself onto a Yami Yugi from the anime Yu-Gi-Oh, who oddly enough looked perfectly content with his situation. Haili and Cye had wandered over to Kami-chan, the professor, and were speaking quietly with her.

_I must be the only girl without a Bishie yet._

She flushed uncomfortably at some of the more negative thoughts that came with that realization, and downed another cup of ginger ale.

"Eeee! Erky, stop hiding in the corner like that! Come out and talk to the people!"

"Leave me alone."

"You're my escort! A proper lady doesn't go around without her escort, even in public, Erky!"

"Stop calling me that."

Naomi blinked in surprise, searching about for the pair who was speaking. _Amazing! Another pair of Bishies from Fire Emblem- Rekka no Ken!_ A thoughtful expression passed over her face as she considered an interesting possibility._ Oh, I would love to talk to them…Maybe even…_

"But it's so cute! It rhymes with herky-jerky too, Erky!"

"Serra, I'm warning you…"

Naomi spotted them, and sensed imminent danger- the one "Serra" had been speaking to was holding a dark book in his hands. He'd pushed his long, dark violet hair back from his face, and his dark eyes were squinted.

"Erky, don't you dare cast a spell on me, I'll tell Kami-chan…"

"Um, excuse me," Naomi interrupted.

Immediately, the two turned to her.

Serra, who was a young cleric with bright pink hair, squealed again. "Ohmygosh! It's a trainer, Erky! Hiii! I'm Serra, a cleric of Ostia!"

"I'm Naomi." The young woman searched for words, then said simply, "I really enjoy the series about you all. I was wondering if I could speak with you for a while."

Serra opened her mouth to reply when Erk, surprisingly, interrupted. "Please, yes! Let's go, um, over there!" With that, he grabbed Naomi by the arm and steered her away from the pink-haired girl, saying, "We'll talk later, Serra!"

Bewildered at the turn of events, Naomi let herself be pulled away.

The two reached the food table, where Erk stopped and gave her a look of gratitude.

"That... woman... drives me insane," he said.

She smiled. "I noticed."

Hesitantly, the mage smiled back. Now that he wasn't angry anymore, his eyes had returned to looking as though he were brooding over something.

"So. Um… are you promoted yet?" she asked politely.

"Not yet, but Lord Pent, my mentor, says I am close," he replied.

"Neat. What's your favorite spell?" "Out of…?"

"Fire and Thunder. Those are the only spells I know you eventually cast," she confessed.

"Thunder, it's stronger."

The two spoke for a while, and Naomi realized that when Erk was not around Serra, he was positively sane, unlike the others she'd spoken to that night. His tone was calm and measured, his replies thought out before spoken. His only real issue was that he greatly enjoyed comparing himself to his mentor, Lord Pent, and grossly understating his own abilities.

Naomi hadn't realized how much time had passed before she was tapped on the shoulder. She turned to see Professor Kami-chan, who was smiling. "Have you picked yet?" she asked. "We're all almost ready to go."

The young woman blinked, then swallowed and turned to look at Erk. "Look, um, Erk… would you mind coming with me? I won't call you by that nickname, I promise... and I have no intention of capturing a Serra unless you know her or something-"

"It's a done deal," he said, glancing over his shoulder. "If I may be blunt, I would prefer to be trapped in a room with fifty fan girls before returning to being an escort of Cleric Serra."

She blinked, wondering at how easy this had been. "Uh, thanks." She turned to Kami-chan. "I guess we're all set, then."

"Good. We're off to get your basic equipment, then. Ne, do you need any assistance on camping? We've got a quick, two day course on the fourth floor for newbies…"

"I can assist her there," Erk offered.

"Okay then! Great! Let's go!"

Erk politely nodded, then offered his arm to Naomi. Blushing slightly, she took it. The Anima Mage then led her towards the door, after the other trainers.

_Oh, what a day… _

_**

* * *

**_

The group of new trainers- as well as their Bishies- found themselves on yet another floor with yet another new scene. This time, it appeared as though the group were walking through either a science lab or a hospital. Peering into the rooms made the issue even more clouded, as there were some rooms where people and Bishies were apparently being checked on, more where scientists were measuring liquid into various bottles, and yet more rooms where the occupants were doing things that kept them from noticing someone that was peeking in on them.

Finally, they reached a room where the Professor herded them all in.

The room was not very colorful to look at. The walls were white, with no decorations on them. A computer stood in the center of the room, with a number of what looked to be small black and silver cell phones connected to it. A needle rested on a nearby table next to a very bizarre-looking machine.

One of the girls had chosen a Goku from the anime DBZ, and she was having a hard time calming the Bishonen down once he saw the needle. He was frantically trying to race out of the room. Thankfully, he slowed down due to the door being closed.

"Now then," Kami-chan said as they all turned to her. "This is the newbie's room. Here you shall find the essentials for your beginning days as a trainer. First, I require a blood sample from each of you."

The Goku fainted.

Kami-chan gave him a disgusted look. "Not from the Bishies, from the trainers," she said, rolling her eyes.

"What for?" Sara asked.

"It's very simple, actually. We use your blood to help you link to your Bish-balls, where your Bishies will reside. Thus, your Bishies will be linked to you. You'll automatically know who is and who isn't yours."

"Oh."

Naomi went behind the other girl and pushed her forward. "You first," she told Sara. "I'm a bit tired of beginning the line."

Sara glared at her, but when the rest of the group formed up behind Naomi, she had no choice but to step forward as Kami-chan pulled out the needle and beckoned to her.

The needle looked very large, but thankfully Kami-chan only took a tiny draw of blood from each person. Of course, said needle wasn't used for everyone- Kami-chan pulled out a new one each time the next trainer stepped up. After the needle was "filled", she would deposit it into the strange looking machine. Then, she'd ask them to step into a connected room, which none of them had noticed beforehand.

When Naomi entered with Erk in tow, a man wearing a stained lab coat welcomed them. "Right then, Naomi and… Erk, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, right over here then."

The man made his way over to what looked to be a duplicate of the machine in the last room, and pulled out a belt, a set of Bish-balls, and one of the cell phones.

"Here we are. Put that on and see how it fits."

Feeling a bit ridiculous, Naomi took the belt- it was large, mostly black with a silver lining- and put it on.

"Good. Next, let's program your Dex."

They took a few minutes to do so. The man asked her to repeat a certain number to the Dex once it was on, then vocally added in her name. It was surprising to see quite a bit of information about herself pop up on the small screen, which she found she could enlarge by pulling gently at the edges of the cell phone until it was about the size of a GBA.

"Good, good. Now then, here are a handful of Bish-balls. You'll have to order more if you have a need to capture more Bishies. Though normally people these days don't capture many more than ten to fifteen of them."

Naomi took the balls and looked at them carefully. They were all tiny, resembling small silver bells as she fastened all but one to her belt. Then she looked up at the man in the lab coat.

He was smiling. "All right. Now open that one in your hand by touching that small circle in the center."

She obeyed, and jumped when the thing _popped_, and reappeared in her hand as large as a softball.

"Now, just tap this onto your Bishonen's head."

Naomi blinked, and looked at Erk. Said Anima Mage was looking at the Bish-ball with a small frown, but nodded when she raised an eyebrow at him. With that, she lightly tapped him on the forehead with the ball.

At first, nothing seemed to happen. Then, Erk's expression ranged from doubt to disbelief as he seemed to dissolve into a red, glowing blur which was sucked into the ball.

Naomi gave a cry of surprise and dropped the Bish-ball, staring at it as it started to shake.

"Now, don't do that!" the professor exclaimed. "You might break it, durable or not!"

She ignored him, watching as the ball slowly stopped shaking, and finally grew still. She then picked up a stick out of nowhere to poke at the Bish-ball.

"Oh, stop that," the professor said, rolling his eyes. "Just pick it up; it's not going to hurt you."

She blushed, and obeyed.

"Now, if you want him to join you, just say his name."

Unbidden, memories of listening to the band _Destiny's Child_ appeared in her mind. Naomi shook her head, and then said, "Erk, Anima Mage."

Again, there was that strange red glow that outlined the shape of the Bishonen before he actually appeared. Once he did, Naomi noted that Erk was slightly bent forward, index finger extended as though he was preparing to poke at something.

He blinked when he realized where he was, and then lowered his hand, blushing slightly. "I didn't know there were _rooms_ in there," he explained.

"There are?" Naomi asked, peering at the Bish-ball curiously. "It's so small…"

"Of course there are," the professor said. "It used to just be like a storage closet, but nowadays we add technologies to help the Bishies be more comfortable."

"That's comforting," Erk muttered.

Naomi, unable to find anything to say, busied herself with shrinking the Bish-ball and placing it on the belt. Oddly, she had the feeling that if she'd taken all of the Bish-balls off of the belt, and then mixed them together, she would still know which one belonged to Erk.

"Well, that's that. Off you go now," the professor said airily. "I must prepare for the next kid. Shoo."

They shooed.

* * *

It was a strange sensation that filled Naomi as she and her new Bishonen walked down the street. She had a feeling that she absolutely had to be next to her Bishie, and therefore made sure she was walking next to him at all times. Erk seemed to be sharing the same sensation, for he didn't object when they accidentally bumped shoulders once in a while.

_What's wrong with me? I feel so anxious…_

She then saw the inn that Anya had directed her to with relief. "There, that's where we're going," she said to Erk.

He nodded and quickened his pace. She followed him. "Who are we meeting here again?"

"Anya. She's the trainer that I ran into when I first got here."

"Hmm."

They entered the inn and found to their surprise that Anya had reserved a room for Naomi for the next three days. The man at the desk politely pretended to ignore Naomi's open-mouthed gape of surprise.

"But she- I thought she wanted to head out tomorrow!" she said.

"She is, miss," the young man replied. "Her room's reservation is cancelled after tomorrow at noon."

Naomi sighed. "Oh well. I was hoping to stay with someone experienced for a while, but I'll live. Thanks."

The two found the rooms with little difficulty, since Naomi found Heero chasing Sano around the hallway. Heero had a portable hair dryer in his hand, with it on, and an evil gleam in his eye. Sano had his hands over his hair protectively, howling in protest each time he got a blast from the hair dryer in question.

_"Turn that damn thing off!"_ Sano yelled.

"Oh no, I don't think so," Heero replied.

"MISSIE! MAKE HIM STOP!"

Naomi and Erk sweat-dropped as Anya came out of one of the doors. Chichiri peeked behind them, as well as Kenshin.

Kenshin took one look, flushed, and declared, "I don't know them!" before hiding in the room once more.

"Honestly, Heero, will you get over it? It was only a laptop…" Anya muttered, sighing.

Heero ignored her- at least, he did until she snatched the hair dryer out of his hand while he ran by with it. He continued to run about after Sano for a minute, then stopped and looked at his hand as though he'd never seen it before. Then he gave his trainer a look that clearly showed his injured dignity before quietly walking back into the room. He didn't once glance back at Sano.

Sano, meanwhile, was swearing, eyes still wide as he stared at the hair dryer.

Anya turned it off, sighed again, and shook her head. "I can't believe him," she said. "I've _never _seen a Heero go bonkers… except for that hippie version of a Heero I saw once…"

Erk and Naomi shared baffled expressions. In an undertone, Erk said, "Are you sure you know these people?"

"Actually, I'm not sure anymore," she whispered back.

Anya rolled her eyes. "I can hear you two, you know. So who did you end up with, Naomi?" Naomi jumped and blushed. "Uh, this is Erk. He's from a strategy RPG called Fire Emblem."

"Huh. Never heard of it. Nice to meetcha, Erk."

Erk muttered something incomprehensible under his breath, but that apparently seemed to satisfy Anya.

Still absently wielding the hair dryer, Anya said cheerfully, "Well, why don't we head on in and hang out for a while? We can get some soda and- oh hell, I forgot to get ice. Hang on."

"No, no, I'll go," Erk interrupted quickly.

"I'll go with you," Sano suggested. However, he was being shoved back into the room by Anya.

"And you said your leg was sore. Some sore leg! Get in there!"

"Ow, damn it, Missie- OW!"

"I'll go with you," Naomi said to Erk, but she too was interrupted when Anya finished shoving Sano inside and proceeded to drag her in.

"Oh, come on. He'll live without you for five minutes. It's down at the end of the hall, okay, Erk?"

The Anima Mage nodded, then with a reluctant look at his trainer, hurried off.

Suddenly, something started to hurt. A lot.

Naomi winced as pain lanced through her forehead, and rubbed at it with one hand as she sat down on one of the beds in the room. Sano was sprawled out on the other one. Kenshin was looking out the window, and Heero was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's see… they don't really have brand names here, so it's not like there's Coke here. We'll have to make do with Bishie substitutes, but that's okay, they're usually better than the stuff back home," Anya said, rooting through a cooler that had appeared out of nowhere. "Okay…."

Naomi shuddered as a bigger wave of pain washed over her. When she opened her eyes, she found that they were very watery, and that the light was too bright. She closed them again.

"Hey, are you okay?" Anya asked, turning with an armful of sodas.

"Head hurts…"

Anya swore and dropped the sodas onto a nearby table. "Oh crap, I completely forgot! Kenshin, go find Erk! He's probably in the same condition!"

The redhead- who now greatly resembled a big pink, white and red blob- raced through the door.

That was the last thing Naomi saw before she completely blacked out.

* * *

Author's Notes- Whoo! Long chapter, ne? (Smiles at it admiringly) I thought I was going too slowly, but also wanted to add this stuff in. How else to hurry things up than by putting it into one chapter? (Grins)

To any who wondered, the Programmer will show up again soon, in the next couple of chapters.

To SSJ-KybokSilverfang- Don't worry, you weren't pushing it. I actually wouldn't mind if people would give me a few more tips on writing skills and storyline ideas. I won't necessarily USE the storyline ideas, but it might help me out. And help is greatly appreciated. (Smile)

To Jingkingofbandits- (hugs) I was wondering if anyone would ask! I need a few more half-Bishies, to be honest. Can't have them be the center of it all if there aren't any there, right? You are SO in! Thanks again!

To everyone else- See you all next time. Oh, and thank you all! I can't believe that the reviews already total 100. (Beams) For that, I'll give you two fangirl tips. One, read stuff by David Eddings. He is an AMAZING fantasy writer. Read either Pawn of Prophecy first, or the Diamond Throne by him. Two, if you have a GBA you MUST play Fire Emblem. The characters are SO awesome! So yeah. Catch you all next time!


	7. Chapter Seven

* * *

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Seven: Mysterious Conversations and Time to Go!

* * *

"You know you're not supposed to do that."

The Programmer didn't even glance up from their work. "Hello, Lady."

LSS-sama put her hands on her hips and frowned. "Don't 'hello Lady' _me_, kid. What do you think you're doing?"

Now the Programmer did look up. "You look nice today."

"Damn it, Anundrae…"

"All right, all right. I'm fixing a problem you created."

"Actually, you're making it worse. You can't just up and create a world like you are. It's way too dangerous."

"Uh-huh. That sure stopped you and Miz T, didn't it?"

LSS-sama stamped one foot against the cool, hard floor. "We knew what we were doing! We _researched!_ All you're doing is trying to mix up Earth and the Bishie world by taking components from both. You can't do that, or you're gonna make a hell of a mess."

"And all _you_ two did was 'Mix fantasy and reality, and digitized it'," the Programmer responded. "Grow up, Lady."

"No, Anundrae. _You _grow up. I happen to like you, but Tokio-san and I _will _fire your ass if we catch you doing anything else."

The Programmer whirled about in their swivel chair, and glared at the creator of Bishoujo. "Unlike you two, I'm trying to help those half-Bishies find a place where they won't be pissed on by humans and Bishies alike."

LSS-sama snorted. "Oh, please. If everyone could do that then the Native Americans would have kept the country to themselves, England and Ireland would have never warred, and Japan and China would have never had to deal with the rest of us. If everyone could create their own little worlds, then there'd be no conflict, and no change. We'd all die out like the dinosaurs, probably even more quickly because of boredom. Besides, who told you that _all _the half-Bishies want to be left alone? There are quite a few happy ones."

"You're very cold hearted, Lady." The Programmer's voice was quiet.

"No, I'm a realist. We 'allowed' the two races of people to have children for two reasons. One, because they would have been more eager to try if we'd forbidden it. Two, because people need to change."

The Programmer was silent, staring at one of the many screens surrounding the little office they stayed in.

LSS-sama nodded to one screen as it began to beep at the two of them. "There's a newbie coming in. Why don't you attend to your day job and find a new hobby?" With that, she muttered something under her breath and she was gone.

The Programmer didn't move for a long while.

* * *

"Are you okay?"  
  
_Owwww__… _

Naomi opened one watery eye cautiously, then the other. Blurry faces surrounded her, and for a minute she wondered if she was in a hospital after some sort of bad accident.

_Maybe someone slipped crack into my food and the Bishie world was a dream,_ she thought.

But no… after a moment longer, her eyes cleared, and she found Anya peering down at her worriedly.

Naomi found herself lying on one of the beds in Anya's inn room, with Chichiri's cloak as a blanket. She was tightly wrapped up in it, as was Erk, who was slowly returning to consciousness as-

_Wait a minute!_

The young woman looked about at the group of faces, sitting up and squirming a bit away from her new Bishonen, blushing slightly. "Wha' happened?" she croaked.

"Easy," Anya ordered. "Ne, Kenshin, do you have that water handy?"  
  
The redhead nodded and handed a cup to her. For a few minutes, Naomi pondered that strange image of a samurai holding a plastic cup with tap water in it. Then she realized she'd been staring and accepted the water to cover her embarrassment.

"Mm. What…?"

Erk sat up as well, rubbing his forehead.

"Good, you're both okay," Anya said with obvious relief.

"You've both been out for well over an hour, n'da," Chichiri informed them.

"What happened?" Naomi repeated.

"I forgot to mention something new that the people here do to new trainers," Anya said. "It's called bonding. Have you ever read the Valdemar books?"

Naomi thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"All right, it's kind of like the horses in there bonding with their Heralds and stuff."  
  
"They're not horses, they're Companions," Naomi said, with a hint of annoyance.

"Horses are horses," Anya said with a shrug. "Anyway, it's like in the books. You're the Companion, and he's the Herald to be. You Chose him, in a way. Now you need to bond and get used to each other. For a while, you won't be able to handle being much more than a few feet away from each other. Over time, as you get used to each other and the bond the Bishie-ball causes, you'll be able to be farther away. Eventually it'll reach that limit that was mentioned in your Orientation."

"Oh," Naomi said. "But does that mean he's the only one I can choose?"

Anya laughed. "No, of course not. Be ready, though. You'll have to go through this with every Bishie you capture, so I hope you capture ones that are really likeable." She poked Sano playfully. "Unlike this one…"

He mock-growled at her. She poked him again.

"So trainers are like Companions who can choose multiple Heralds," Naomi said thoughtfully.

"Uh-huh. Or it's like that old movie, I think it's either _Anna and the King _or _The Emperor and I _or something like that. You know, where a teacher woman goes to Asia to teach the children of the Emperor? He says that a bee can go from flower to flower as it pleases, but a flower should not be able to go from bee to bee."  
  
"Actually, I think that was a supposed comparison between men and women," Heero informed then, typing on his new laptop. He sat on the other bed, facing away from them.

"Shut up, Heero."

"I think we're getting a bit far afield here," Chichiri murmured.

"Indeed, de gozaru yo," Kenshin agreed.

"You all right?" Anya asked Erk.

The Anima Mage nodded, still rubbing at his temples. "Yes. I've handled worse headaches before."  
  
"Great. Listen, uh, I don't want to sound rude, but I think we ought to move you to your room now."  
  
"Our room?" Naomi and Erk asked.

"Well, yeah. Duh. You have to get used to living with each other, now that you're Trainer and Bishie, ya know."

"Please don't do that," Chichiri told Anya in a pained tone.

"Why not… ya know?"  
  
"I _hate _it when she says that, n'da," the monk whispered to Naomi. "Don't know why, but I do, na no da."

Naomi couldn't help it; she laughed. Chichiri gave her an injured look before grinning at the lot of them again.

"All right, let's move you over. Then we can talk about what's what."

* * *

It was easy to move the new trainer and her Bishonen into the next room; after all, Naomi only owned the most vital of possessions needed to begin on a journey. She had money, but it was hidden away in an account she could only access through her Dex, to lighten some of the trainer's worry. That was the only thing in the Dex Programming that absolutely required voice activation. She also had the Bish-belt and Balls, the Bishonen, and a small backpack that Anya pressed on her. Upon looking in the small backpack, she discovered a capsule full of foods that didn't require cooling or heating to be eaten; a capsule that had three outfits for her inside, thankfully in her size; a small notebook for whatever she chose to write in it; and a capsule with a fire-starting kit, a few blankets, umbrellas for rain, and a simple tent that came with a small set of cooking and cleaning utensils.

"Wow, you don't have to give all of this to me," Naomi said wonderingly.

Anya shrugged. "I remember when I started. When you're a newbie, you get free stuff from people for the first week simply because you're an innocent. However, I've discovered that most of that stuff is the worst quality you can hope to find, which is partially why it's so easy to get it free. Most of the stuff in that bag are of decent, if not good quality."

"Thanks!"

Anya grinned. "I'm sorry about leaving on you tomorrow, but you'll be fine," she said.

Naomi looked up, startled. "How did you-"

"I guessed. Look, don't worry about it. The people around here are really, really great people. Don't worry about running into unlikable types or anything. The worst kinds of people back home aren't allowed here. Those who have unhealthy obsessions usually aren't allowed here, either. Mostly. My point is, if you want help, ask and you shall receive. Just remember all that stuff they showed you at Orientation."

Erk, who was seated nearby, spoke up. "And I shall be there, of course, to make sure you make very few large blunders upon your journey, trainer mine."

Naomi blushed at that. "Thanks, Erk," she said.

The mage bestowed a small smile upon her before pulling one of his tomes out of nowhere and reading it.

Anya smiled at the younger trainer. "Ne, here's an idea- let's exchange Dex numbers."  
  
Naomi smiled. "Sure!"

The two did that swiftly, with Naomi feeling very pleased about her quick mastery of the Dex programming.

After that, Anya slipped her Dex back into a pocket as she regarded the younger trainer. "Well, look… when you get up tomorrow, I'm probably not going to be here, unless I can't get Sano up," she said into the quiet room. "So you probably won't see us for a while."

Naomi blinked. "Oh. Uh, okay…"

"It was great meeting you, and it's always fun meeting new people, but I really want to get back out walking places, and I want to try that teleporting thingy," Anya explained. "So it's nothing to do with you, honest-"

"I know that!" Naomi said, laughing. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, like you said." She paused, then said, "Thanks for your help, and the stuff, and well, everything."

"No problem! Just Dex me whenever you want, ne? Time is the same on every part of this world."  
  
"What?!"

Anya shrugged. "It's weird, I know- it's kinda like that old thing they taught us in elementary school about how everyone thought the world was flat at one point. Only it's real."

"How would the sun revolve about a flat planet? Or how would a flat planet revolve around a sun?" Naomi asked, eyes wide.

"No idea."  
  
"Never mind that, how does the solar system handle having a continuously expanding planet, whether it's flat or normal as your old world?" Erk asked.

"Waaah, no more questions about planets!" Anya said, suddenly ing. "I'm getting confused!"

Naomi laughed. "You heard her, Erk."  
  
The Anima Mage sighed and went back to his book.

"Well, uh, if you're leaving tomorrow, then let your Bishonen know I said thanks, okay?" Naomi asked. "Specially Sano and Chichiri."

"Why Sano?" Anya asked, puzzled.

Naomi remembered how Sano had pretended to be injured earlier that day and smiled. "Oh, no reason."  
  
Anya didn't look convinced, but let that pass. "Sure thing." 

"Thanks."

The girls said their good-byes, Anya still puzzling over why on earth someone would want to thank Sano for something, and Naomi puzzling over what else her Dex could do.

"Hey, look! Online gaming opportunities! Whoa! I don't believe it! They've got _Sims _in here, only it's like with every expansion pack ever made! And look! I can actually see what they're saying!"

Erk sighed, and continued to read his tome. _Well, at least she's calmer than Serra…_

A while later, Chichiri popped back into the room to say his good-byes to Naomi, actually removing his mask to give her a warm smile. The young woman nearly died of embarrassment when he grinned; it was almost like he didn't have a scar on one eye at all, but that he was winking at her.

Smirking at her embarrassment, Chichiri turned SD and cast a few outrageous magic spells about before disappearing back into his trainer's room with a loud _POP._

Night soon fell, to Naomi's surprise. She and Erk didn't leave the room once since their first incident, instead calling for room service and watching television and reading. And, as they each climbed into a bed to fall asleep, Naomi couldn't help but wonder what else this wonderful world had in store for her.

_Bishies… Sims… Free food… What else do they have here?!_

* * *

To Alden-san- I'd love to put some of those characters in here. I just need to read more of the manga(s) or I'll royally mess up with them, and I hate doing that. Kingdom Hearts shouldn't be a problem, though.

To Natala- Dear God, it's another fantasy reader person! (Hugs her) Don't worry, I'll add more characters from those series as soon as I can- I just wanted to make sure people actually knew who I was talking about.

To Sylvia Viridian- Marth and Roy are NOT in the GBA version. Roy's actually the future kid of two of the characters IN this game. This game- simply known as Fire Emblem here- is actually the seventh installment of the series. America's just a bit slow. He he. No offense intended, of course. I think there's going to be a Game Cube Fire Emblem soon, too. Though I don't have that game system…

To Alana-Hikari-chan- (Whoops and glomps her) Two! Two other David Eddings people! Yatta!

To LoneHowl- (Smiles sheepishly) Wow. Sure, you're welcome to put her into your story. Just a question- do you mean Anya? Or Naomi? I'm guessing Anya since she's been around the block once or twice already. And ano… a legend? I'm still not used to people who've written stuff based on or because of something I've written, so we're all honored and happy here. Or so I hope… Yeah. (Smiles again)

To Jade-Jaganashi- Well, hope you figured everything out this chapter. Thanks for the congratulations! And… Picture? (Waits expectantly) If you need my email, tell me. Or post it somewhere and gimme address! I wanna picture! (Gets smacked by her Muses) Owie… sorry, bit hyper today.

To inuyashalover23454- You're welcome to use my world in your story, if you so wish. I'm very flattered you ask- thanks! Just let us all know when you get started on it, ne? The world needs a few more Bishie fics.

To Satanira- don't worry about reviewing! Reviews are good, reviews are you friend… (Grin)

To SuperHurricane- (Smiles) And what on earth have YOU been up to lately? Yeah, I know, I can't believe the reviews. I feel so loved! Group hug! (Everyone backs up a step) Hee… kidding!

To everyone else- um, I'm confused. How does the C2 thingy work? (Pokes it)


	8. Chapter Eight

Two Paths, One Choice

Chapter Eight- Discussions/ Finally On the Road

* * *

"So how's ol' Anundrae?" Tokio-sama asked lazily as LSS-sama entered the room. The former was sprawled out in front of a giant television set, working away at a video game.

"Irritable," LSS-sama replied, flicking off her jacket and sending it into a pocket of space. Then she flopped down on the couch where Tokio-sama lay. "Whatcha playing?"

"Star Ocean. Coolest damn thing… well, anyway. How was Anundrae irritable?"

"Our dear Programmer refuses to think that little project involving a new world for Halflings is a bad one."

"Oh?"

"Yup. I don't think Anundrae's gonna listen."

"We can always find a new Programmer."

"I dun wanna," LSS-sama complained, stealing some chips off of the nearby table. "It took so long to find someone who was _that _talented in computers, _that _willing to believe in the concept of creating a whole new universe chock full of Bishies, and _that _damn pretty."

Tokio-sama blinked at that, turning to glance at her companion with a raised eyebrow. "Pretty?"

LSS-sama blushed. "Well, he _is!"_

"He? You mean Anundrae?"

"Yeah, who else would I be talking about? Pretty Bish for a human guy, ne?"

"He is so not a guy."

LSS-sama now raised her eyebrows. "And what do you mean by that? Is he a eunuch or something?"

"Ick. No, Anundrae's obviously female."

LSS-sama watched for a moment as her companion continued to play Star Ocean. Then, slowly, she said, "Anundrae is a guy."

"Girl."

"He's a _guy."_

"_Girl._"

"Is not."

"Is so."

"Oh yeah? Did you grope him or something?"

"Did you?"

"He has no boobs."

"She wears really, really tight jeans."

"So? Maybe he's just very secure in his gender, or somethin'."

The two creators of the Bishie universe glared at each other. Tokio-sama narrowed her eyes, ignoring as her main character on screen was hit with a powerful attack from a monster and died. "_Female._"

"Male."

The two continued to bicker as the television showed the Game Over screen, mournfully belting out the death song. At one point, the two began to throw food at one another, and everything spiraled down from there, the initial point of the conversation forgotten.

* * *

Naomi and Erk decided to spend the first day together in town instead of heading off immediately. To Naomi's disappointment, Anya was indeed long gone by the time she woke up, so she was all alone with her new Bishonen.

And, frankly, had no idea what she could or should talk to him about. If anything.

The violet-haired mage, thankfully, didn't seem to mind that she wasn't talking to him. Actually, he appeared quite grateful. At least, he seemed grateful whenever he looked up from that huge tome he was carrying about. Since the moment the two got up and headed out, he had had his nose in that book.

But then, the young trainer couldn't blame him, really. After all, he'd been saddled with a Serra- one of the most talkative girls she'd ever seen in a video game, not to mention one of the most annoying- for who knew how long. He was no doubt glad to have some time to hear himself think, and she was all too happy to give that time to him for now.

It was about noon now, and the two were sitting together in a café waiting for their orders to come. Naomi had discovered a magazine for Bishie beginners, and was leafing through it while attempting to fight off the signs of a beginning headache. Erk was eyeing a particular page in his book, a thoughtful frown on his face as he tapped his chin with his index finger.

Naomi glanced up, and decided it was time to break the silence. "So what have you been reading all day, if I might ask?"

"I'm trying to memorize some new spells," was the quiet answer. "These are harder than I originally thought they would be."

"I didn't realize it took so long to learn magic."

"It isn't when you're learning the type of magic you're used to. This is dark magic, such as Flux; magic I have never attempted before."

Naomi blinked. "I thought you were carrying about a book of Anima spells."

"It mainly is, but each mage's book also has spells from the other types of magic too; which is why they're so sought after. Sometimes a book meant for an Anima mage will have a Light spell that's hard to find, even in a Light book. Or vice versa."

"Huh."

Their order came, and Erk finally set the heavy tome aside so he could eat.

"So do you have any recommendations for where we should go next?" Naomi questioned.

"I don't really care."

"It's just… I have no idea where to start."

Erk smiled faintly. "I recommend you try to go somewhere that has Bishies you really want to meet as soon as possible. This world is only getting bigger. Why, in the past three years, teleporters have had to be installed so that people could get where they wanted in a reasonable amount of time."

"I noticed that. I still don't get how the planet can keep growing like that…"

"Don't try to understand. It will only worsen your headache."

Naomi blinked. "How did you know…?"

"You look exhausted, and you keep rubbing your temples."

Naomi blushed. "Oh! Um, I thought you were…"

"You thought the bond between trainer and Bishie told me that?" Erk asked, faintly amused. When Naomi nodded, he said, "No, it doesn't really do that, from what I've heard. It's mainly just so that you know I am the Erk you captured, and tells us when we've wandered too far apart."

Naomi ate for a few moments in silence, watching her Bishonen absently fiddle around with his food. Then, cautiously, she asked, "May I ask something?"

"You already did, but you can ask me something else if you wish."

She frowned slightly at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, you may," he added.

"Why did you volunteer to be captured?"

Erk paused, his silverware hitting the plate with a soft _tink._ "I suppose.. there are many ways I could answer that," he said. "The easiest and shallowest of them being that I thought any trainer would be better than dealing with Serra for another hour."

Naomi smiled. "I think that's a pretty good reason myself. She's a good healer, from what I remember, but…"

Erk shook his head. "I… have never been caught before. I was curious, which is a better answer. I suppose my best answer would be…" He thought for a moment. "I wanted to know more about you humans. You from another world, you who allegedly created this world that I was born and raised in. I wanted to see what you all were like for myself, but one can't do that when one lives at home. Not very well, anyway. And I couldn't very well walk up to a random trainer and ask him or her, because I would have been captured. And with my luck, it would have been a bad trainer. No, with this, I had a chance to choose my own trainer, just as you had the chance to choose your first Bishonen."

Naomi tilted her head to one side. "I never thought of it like that. Humans creating the Bishie world, I mean. It must feel odd to be born in a world and have us barge in and capture you all-"

"Those of us who do not wish to be captured mostly are not, because they stay within our cities," Erk interrupted. "And we made an agreement long ago with you humans about this world; that we'd split it equally. That we wouldn't be mistreated. After all, this is still our planet first, whether or not you all made it for us. We have more right to it than you do. Believe me, this is all voluntary on our parts, or we'd have kicked you all out from the start."

The young woman nodded slowly. "Well, I'm glad to know that you all have a say in this. Because as awesome as this all is, I still feel a bit weird about capturing you."

"Don't. We'll tell you if we don't like it." And then Erk gave her a smile. "I have learned how to make myself known thanks to Serra, so never fear."

Naomi blushed slightly at the friendly smile before returning it. "Good," she managed. Then she looked down and realized that their plates were empty. And that their waitress was waiting only a few feet away, tapping her foot impatiently. "Oh, um, can we get the bill, please?" she asked her.

The young woman was about to thank Erk for telling her all of this, but by the time she returned her gaze to her first Bishonen, he was already reading his book again.

She sighed, and shook her head. But this time she did it with an exasperated smile instead of a worried frown.

And, oddly enough, her headache seemed to be gone as well.

* * *

Anya yawned and stretched. "Aah, it's so good to be on the move again!"

Sano mumbled something.

She poked him. "What, still not awake? Come on, wakey, wakey! It's noon already!"

He swatted her for poking him, and muttered something else.

"You're no fun in the morning," she announced, and looked to her other Bishonen. "Well, here we are at 'le teleport of doom. Shall we get going?"

"Teleport of doom, no da?" Chichiri asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Or death, or coolness, or whatever. I just like saying doom. It's a cool word, isn't it? I mean… _doom!_" Anya said, sweeping her arms about dramatically.

Heero slowly blinked at her. "I believe she put too much sugar into her coffee this morning."

"I did not."

"She put sugar into her coffee period, no da," Chichiri said sagely.

Anya rolled her eyes. "What's with you guys? Kenshin, help me out here!"

But when she turned to look at him, he was busy attempting to wake up Sano to reply- her first Bishonen had collapsed to the ground and was currently snoring. Kenshin was poking him in various places with a stick.

"Uncle San, wake up, will you de gozaru yo? This is embarrassing…" Kenshin muttered, sweat-dropping.

"Great," Anya sighed. "It wouldn't be so bad if he didn't weigh as much as an elephant, but…"

"Do not," Sano muttered, waking up just long enough to grab Kenshin's stick, break it, and roll over on the ground.

"Sanoooo," Anya whined. "Come on, you can sleep when we get there, I promise, okay?"

"Where're we going, anyway?" Chichiri asked.

"To find another gym, if you all don't mind. I think some people are getting out of shape." This she said pointedly while glaring at Sano's back. "What with some people always sleeping.."

"I don't always sleep!" Sano protested.

"You do too. Come on, Sano, please get up?"

"No."

"I'll find a Megumi and make her wake you up," Anya threatened.

"Hah," was his answer.

"Fine!" She turned to Chichiri. "Chichiri, please…?"

The blue-haired Bishonen shook his head. "Hey, no, I don't do women, no da."

"You do too, you've turned into a Lina before! Remember?"

"That was an exception!"

"Pleeeeaaase?"

Chichiri sighed. "What I do for my trainer." Then he POOFed into the doctor, Megumi.

"Thank you, Chiri. We'll try and find one of your favorite restaurants when we get there, honest."

That seemed to make him feel better, because he proceeded to wake up Sano with a little more gusto than before.

Sano opened his eyes, shrieked, and dove behind Anya. "How in hell did you find one!" he demanded.

"Are we awake now?" Anya asked.

"I sure as hell am."

"Good. 'Chiri?"

Chichiri POOFed back into his normal form with a sigh of audible relief.

"Oh hell, no, you did not make him-"

"Did too. And it worked, didn't it? Now get into the teleporter before you fall asleep again."

Sano glared at her. Then, muttering a few curses, he stomped towards the teleporter- a simple little platform a few miles out of town- and waited.

Two minutes later, the group was roughly fifty leagues away from their starting position, standing before a sign that said the next town was about ten miles off.

"All right!" Anya said, grinning. "Let's get going- the sooner we get there, the sooner Chiri eats and Sano gets to sleep!"

* * *

To EVERYONE- If you're all still reading this, then big apologies for the gigantic delay. I have a number of excuses, being school, then finals, then graduation, then vacation, working, vacation again, and my new obsession with Phantom of the Opera. I hope you can forgive me…

Oh, by the way, does anyone know how one could contact LSS-sama? I can't find any way to contact Tokio-sama, and I've tried emailing LSS-sama, but only got an error. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I'm making a promise to you all here and now- from now on, I'm going to update this story once every two weeks. No more annoyingly long waits. Sound good? Hope to hear from you all and see you here next chapter!


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